GodReflection: Power Words

Some dear friends of mine just lost their son in a highly dramatic and unexpected manner. The father spoke of a hole too raw, too deep, and too jagged to describe.

It happens at a time of the year when my own wounds seep anew.

The phone no longer rings on Saturday.

It was a family ritual. My Dad and Mom would call every Saturday evening. It was hard to beat them to the punch. I would have to dial early to be the one who initiated the call.

Conversations weren’t deep but rich.

With my folks each holding their select handset, we talked about the weather, gave health updates, and shared what information we might have from other family members.

Age caught up with them. They’ve begun their eternal rest. The phone no longer rings. I still feel the hole after almost a decade.

There is another silent phone. It too rang on the weekends.

Our son died with kidney failure in his sleep.

There is something indescribable about the death of a child. It leaves a hole in one’s soul that never goes away.

I suspect God remembers His own loss of His son.

Jesus was in a tomb. God could not intervene for three day. Jesus was dead.  His son was gone. He was away from God as he dealt with the unimaginable load of every sin committed by humankind from Adam to the end of earthly time.

Was the separation more acute for God who isn’t limited by my clock?

The hole in my soul will never heal. Like an open wound, it begins to scab somewhat over time. Underneath the scab the pain remains.

Here is what I think.

The hole in my soul is God’s daily reminder that only He fills holes.

There is a sense that the disappearance of the hole would make me a lesser person.

The constant nagging pain serves to keep my focus on reality.

In a completely different context, Jesus once told a group of disbelievers, “I know where I came from and where I am going.”

That becomes my reality as a Jesus follower.

I know where I came from and where I am going. The hole in my soul provides a constant reminder of emptiness without God.  King David figured it out, “Truly my soul finds rest in God.”

It’s hard to thank God for the hole as a human walking on current earth. However, as a follower of Jesus the word ‘hole’ becomes a word of power.

Its power comes from its reminder that my dependence is upon God.

The hole does not change. The focus does.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on ‘Hole’ as a Word of Power

Gary@GodReflection.org